Compensating presser feet



June 27, 1967 v. J. SIIGODA COMPENSATING PRESSER FEET Filed March 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR.

V m d. S/GODA BY ATTOP/VE)" June 27, 1967 v. J. SIGODA 3,327,663

COMPENSATING PRESSER FEET F iled March 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

\ i d 452V [fl-Y 1020/ d. \S/GODA June 27, 1967 v. J. SIGODA 3,327,663

COMPENSATING PRES SER FEET Filed March 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 v a In INVENTOR. V/aroQ J. S/GODA June 27, 1967 v, 5 0 3,327,663

GOMPENSAT ING PRESSER FEET Filed March 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. 45 430 4700* V crO/Q d. 5600/:

BY 2 d1 A77'O/P/YEY United States Patent York Filed Mar. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 354,680 12 Claims. (Cl. 112-235) This invention relates to presser feet for sewing machines of the type which produce compound stitching such as is commonly found on the inside of mens trousers or ladies slacks in which each side of the leg portion of such garments is joined by a longitudinal seam, with the free edge of each of the two plies thus joined, separately overcast.

A sewing machine for producing such compound seams in a single operation is disclosed in application Ser. No. 43,513, fi led July 18, 1960, now Patent No. 3,246,620, in which other versions of such presser feet are disclosed. The instant application relates to more suitable forms of compensating presser feet for such machines for use commercially.

In producing three lines of stitching simultaneously with the type of sewing machine mentioned it is important to retain feed control over all portions of the work as it proceeds through the machine. Normally differences in bulk occurring in the work raise the entire presser foot against the pressure applied by the usual spring arrangement to the presser-bar on which the presser foot is supported. Such upward movement of the foot as a unit causes loss of control over those portions of the work in which there is no increased bulk, and to counteract this the usual type of presser foot has been replaced by types in which compensation is provided in a vertical direction for such inequalities in the work. However, such forms of compensation cannot completely handle the difiiculties which occur when the variations also occur transversely to the line of seam formation.

It is an imoportant feature of the improved presser feet disclosed herein that not only is there provided the usual rocking action about a hinge pin transversely to the line of scam formation for the various shoe sections which cooperate with the runners of the feed dog to advance the work for the join-seam and the front and rear overedge seams, but there is also applied to the separate support arrangements for certain of such shoes, means which permit universal yielding movements of such presser shoes, and such universal yielding movements responding to the inequalities or thicker portions occurring in the work, whether along the line of or transverse to the line of seam formation, make possible complete compensation for such variations in the bulk of the work being sewn.

The arrangement is such that the movements provided tend to align the soles of such shoes in parallel relation, through the plies, to the toothed surface of the runners of the feed dog and thus to apply pressure on all portions of the work as the three different stitchings are being sewn. This assures effective control over the plies despite the occurrence of thicker portions or other variations in bulk.

The universal movements are provided by use of a relatively inexpensive elastic material which not only provides freedom of movement but also resiliently opposes such movement and thus applies additional pressure to the affected shoe or shoes as they rock to bring about parallel realignment with the toothed surface of the feed-dog. The simple arrangement disclosed herein provides in effect the equivalent of a more complicated, and hence inherently more expensive, gimbals mounting with the further advantage that the inherent resilience of the material applies pressure Without the use of additional elements such as springs.

A further feature of the preferred version of the improved presser feet disclosed herein is division of the joint-seam presser shoe into two independent sections, one of which is provided with a separate spring depressed mounting which atfords additional range of upward movement for that one section beyond that provided for both sections by the hinged mounting and the gimbalslike arrangement mentioned, and which permits that section to accommodate the greatly increased bulk which is encountered along the leg seam where the pocket or some other item is inserted. In addition the arrangement permits one edge of the other section to act as a guide so that the pocket or other insert-ion is neatly made, parallel to and cloesly adjacent the join-seam.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of one make of industrial sewing machine to which the mechanism disclosed in application Ser. No. 43,513 has been applied, showing one version of the presser foot as used with the sewing machine and the type of compound seam produced;

FIG. 2 is a detail view in perspective showing the preferred version of the presser foot as it appears when removed from the sewing machine;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing the various elements of the presser foot disassembled but in their normal operating relation;

FIG. 4 is one side elevation of that presser foot;

FIG. 5 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is the other side elevation of that foot showing the divided shoe sections in flush relation;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing one section as it would appear when fully raised to accommodate increased vertical bulk at that portion of the seam at which the pocket or other member is inserted;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are respectively sectional views taken on lines 8--8 and 9-9 of FIG. 4 showing the construction of the elastic mounting which provides universal yieldable movements for certain of the presser shoes;

FIG. 10 is a detail view in perspective of a simplified version of the presser foot;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the version shown in FIG. 10 with a portion of the shank indicated in broken line;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the version shown in FIG. 10; and

FIG. 13 isa sectional view through the portion of the seam at which the pocket is inserted showing the many additional plies which must be accommodated along the join-seam for insertion of the pocket, and how the additional freedom of vertical movement provided for the one shoe section permits such increased bulk to be accommodated.

The presser foot disclosed herein is used in the environment disclosed in application Ser. No. 43,513 and will therefore be related to that disclosure. The mechanism which is applied to the sewing machine 1 consists of a housing 35 which contains mechanisms which convert rotary power derived from a drive source in the sewing machine to timed oscillations of rockshaft 52 which carries the primary loopers (not visible), rockshaft 61 which carries the secondary or auxiliary thread carrying loopers 261 and 262, and rockshaft which carries the movable cutter 96.

The needle holder 216 is installed on needle bar 15 and the presser foot 414 disclosed herein is mounted on the presser-bar. More complete constructional and operational details will be found in the mentioned application.

The presser foot 414 has a shank portion 420 with the conventional tapered slot 421 by which it is mounted on the mating portion of the presser-bar and retained thereon by mounting screw 422. Shank 420 has a forwardly extending yoke 423 and a rearwardly extending arm 424, each of which support the various presser shoes.

Yoke 423 is the support for the principal elements of the foot. These comprise the main join-seam or center shoe 430 and its supporting members, the front overedge shoe 450 which depends from the center shoe 430, and the left, additional vertically compensating, shoe 455, the extra range of vertical movement thereof being indicated in FIGS. 6 :and 7.

Center shoe 430 is fulcrumed from yoke 423 by pivotal support 431 which consists of a shaft portion 432 joined to a bent member 433 the later being provided with a spaced pair of holes 434. Shaft 432 is received by in-line bores in the arms of yoke 423 and is retained for rotational movement therein by locking collar 435 which fits on shaft 432 between the arms of yoke 423. Collar 435 is fastened on shaft 432 by set screw 436.

Grommets 438 are inserted and retained in the spaced holes 434 of bent member 433. These grommets may be either of synthetic or natural rubber or of any of the elastic plastics which will provide a suitable degree of resilience to permit universally yieldable movements for the presser shoes.

Center shoe 430 is supported from bent member 433 by headed (preferably countersunk headed) pins 439 which pass through in-line front bores 440 and aligned rear bores 441 in yoked portions 442 and 443 respectively of shoe 430 and through the front and rear grommets 438 in bent member 433. Shoe 430 is also provided with a keyhole shaped needle hole 44-4 to accommodate two thread chainstitching and has a side face 445 (see FIGS. 6, 7 and 13) adjoining the sole 446.

Shoe 430 near its toe has an upstanding fin 448 spaced from the adjacent wall of yoked portion 442, the fin and the adjacent wall being provided with in-line bores which receive mounting pin 449 by which front overedge shoe 450 is supported from shoe 430. Coil spring 451 is arranged about pin 449 (see FIG. 4) to apply a downward pressure to shoe 450. The mounting for pin 449 is disposed sufficiently above the upper surface of shoe 430 so that shoe 450 may be spaced sufficiently above the top of the needle-plate (not shown) to permit a plies separator (not shown) to be accommodated between the undersurface of shoe 450 and the surface of the needle-plate. The adjacent vertical edges of fin 448 and shoe 450 shown in FIG. 4 prevent downward movement of shoe 450 under the pressure exerted by spring 451 beyond that indicated therein, while the rounded top of fin 448 permits upward movement, the range thereof being indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4. The rearward end of shoe 450 is notched at 452 to permit passage of the front overedge needle.

Bent member 433 also supports left shoe 455 on the portions of pins 439 which extend through the grommets 438 and past the yokes 442 and 443 of the center shoe. Front pin 439 passes through aligned bores in the forward yoked end of link 456 and through locking collar 457 held fast by a set screwon pin 439 between the arms of the yoke of link 456. Link 456 is thus free to rotate about the axis of front pin 439.

Link 456 (see FIG. 3) has a rearward extension 458 bored to receive mounting pin 459 which is retained in extension 458 by a set screw. Left shoe 455 at its forward end has a yoke 460 with in-line bores to receive pin 459 when yoke 460 is fitted about extension 458. The forward end of shoe 455 is thus free to rotate about the axis of pin 459.

At its rearward end shoe 455 has an upstanding projection 461 which is provided with a vertical slot 462 which fits over the rear pin 439. Locking collar 463 held fast on rear pin 439 by a set screw, retains the rear end of shoe 455 thereon. By adjusting the lateral positions of collars 457 and 463, suflicient clearance may be provided between the left and center shoes to permit the left shoe to move independently and upward beyond the range provided for both shoes by the hinged mounting afforded by shaft 432 in yoke 423 and compression of grommets 438. The curved leaf spring 464 anchored to yoke 423 by screw 465, applies downward pressure from the shank to left shoe 455 to oppose unrestricted upward movement and to return shoe 455to the flush position of FIG. 6 after passage of thicker portions of the plies. Pin 459 extending through yoke 460 fits into notch 442a of the front section 442 of shoe 430 and thus applies the pressure of spring 464 from the shank to shoe 430.

Rearward arm 424 of shank 42% supports the rear overedge shoe 470. Arm 424 is slotted vertically at 471 and provided with a mounting hole for support screw 472 which passes therethrough and is threaded into the tapped bore of support 474 to fasten the later to arm 424. Support 474 is yoked at its lower portion and the arms of the yoke are provided with in-line bores to receive a horizontally disposed mounting pin 475 which acts as a fulcrum for shoe support 476, the upper end of the latter being provided with a clearance hole for passage therethrough of screw 47 2. Screw 472 also passes through a resilient rubbor or plastic bushing 478 which fits Within the recess of adjusting nut 479. Rear overedge shoe 470 is pivotally mounted on the lower end of support 476.

As nut 479 is manipulated to compress bushing 478, shoe support 476 is rotated about its pivot, pin 475, to apply more downward pressure on rear overedge shoe 4'70. Resilient bushing 478 could be replaced, if desired, by a coil spring or any other resilient means, which would have characteristics similar to that of the bushing.

-In the version shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, left shoe 455 has been merged with center shoe 430 to form main shoe 430a which is thus wide enough to provide the combined coverage of the feed dog runners afforded by the separate shoes 430 and 455. A simpler form of resilient suspension for the front overedge shoe 450 is achieved by combining the shoe, its pivotal support and the spring means into a single resilient element 450a. The single element may be fashioned from a material such as spring steel and suitably fastened as by soldering at the forward portion of center shoe 4300:. Similarly, the rear overedge shoe, its suspension and its resilient pressure means may be combined into a single resilient member 470a also fashioned of spring steel, and which is suitably retained in slot 471 of arm 424.

What is generic to both versions is the pivotal support 431 and the use of the grommets 438 to provide the universal compensation for either shoe 439a, and hence shoe 450a attached thereto, or for shoes 430, 450 and 455. The inherent resilience of the material from which the grommets 438 are made not only permits upward vertical movement by compression of this elastic material but by simultaneous distortion laterally, permits a small but important amount of rocking movement across the line of seam formation. The range of such transverse movement may be controlled by the dimensioning of pins 439, it being apparent that the larger the diameter of such pins for a given inside diameter of the particular grommets used therewith, the smaller the amount of transverse movement that will be possible, and vice versa.

The preferred version of the presser foot shown in FIGS. 1 to 9 permits the foot to be used in handling seams, without loss of control, in which enormously thickened sections running parallel to the join-seam are encountered as for example when pockets are being inserted. Such sections, as shown in FIG. 13, may include as many as six more plies of material than the two plies normally being join-seamed and edge-overcast. For the sake of a neat finished appearance it is desirable that the join-seam be sewn immediately adjacent the edge of the inserted pocket without penetration of the plies forming the pocket. Separation of shoe 430a of the second version into shoes 455 and 430- of the first version, with provision for an additional range of independent upward movement for shoe 455 permits the increased bulk to be accommodated immediately adjacent the join seam.

It can be seen in FIG. 13, that when shoe 455 is raised by such increased bulk, side face 445 which is normally covered by shoe 455, becomes exposed so that it can act as a barrier alongside which the pocket plies are guided as the join-seam is being sewn immediately adjacent thereto, and that the edge of the pocket in passing along side face 445 will be maintained in parallel but close relation to the join-seam.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details of construction shown and described herein, but is to be construed broadly within the purview of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sewing machine compensating presser foot which is responsive to variations in thickness or to inequalities in the work, said foot having a shank, and at least one presser shoe, and means for pivotally supporting said shoe from said shank; said pivotal support means including a resilient material which is both compressible and distortable to permit said shoe to move in at least two different directions including rocking transversely parallel to the major axis of its pivotal support.

2. A sew-ing machine compensating presser foot which is responsive to variations in thickness or to inequalities in the work, said foot having a shank and at least one presser shoe supported thereby; and means for mounting said shoe on said shank including a pivotal support depending from said shank, and a deformable, elastic material interposed between said pivotal support and said shoe.

3. A sewing machine compensating presser foot which is responsive to variations in thickness or to inequalities in the work, said foot having a shank and at least one presser shoe supported thereby, and means for mounting said shoe on said shank including a member pivotally supported from said shank, said member having a pair of supports for said shoe spaced in the line of scam formation, and a member comprising a deformable elastic material interposed between each of said shoe supports and said shoe.

4. A sewing machine compensating presser foot which is responsive to variations in thickness or to inequalities in the work, said foot comprising a shank having a forwardly extending portion and a rearwardly extending portion; both of said extensions being in the direction of seam formation; a support member pivotally mounted from said forward extension; a presser shoe supported by said member; a deformable, elastic material connecting said support member and said presser shoe to permit said shoe to move in at least two different directions independently of the movement permitted by the pivotal mounting of the support member.

5. A presser foot according to claim 4 having an additional presser shoe supported by said rearwardly extending portion, said additional shoe being mounted for independent pivotal movement, and means for applying resilient pressure to the additional shoe and to limit the amount of pivotal movement there-of undersuch resilient pressure.

6. A presser foot according to claim 5 having a third presser shoe, and means for resiliently supporting said third presser shoe from said first presser shoe.

7. A presser foot according to claim 6 in which additional means is provided to limit the downward movement of the third presser shoe while permitting upward movement thereof.

'8. A sewing machine compensating presser foot which is responsive to variations in thickness or to inequalities in the work, said foot having a shank, and at least one presser shoe supported thereby, and means for mounting said shoe on said shank including a member pivotally supported from said shank; said member having portions thereof, spaced in the direction of scam formation, adapted to support said shoe, and a deformable elastic material interposed between each of said portions and said shoe. 9. A sewing machine compensating presser foot which 15 responsive to variations in thickness or to inequalities in the work, said foot having a shank, and at least one presser shoe supported thereby, and means for mounting said shoe on said shank including a member pivotally supported from said shank; said member having portions thereof, spaced in the direction of seam formation, adapted to support said shoe; and means for supporting said shoe from said member comprising means on said shoe for retaining a pair of spaced, horizontally disposed shafts, and a deformable, elastic material interposed between each of said shafts and the spaced portions of the support member.

10. A presser foot according to claim 9 including a second presser shoe, said second presser shoe being mounted adjacent the first presser shoe and depending from said shafts, and means for permitting said second shoe to move upwardly independently of the first shoe.

11. A presser foot according to claim '10 which includes a resilient means operative between the shank and said second shoe to oppose upward movement thereof, and through said second shoe to apply a resilient bias to the first shoe from said shank.

12. A compensating presser foot for use with a sewing machine for sewing two independent overedge seams and a join-seam in a single operation; said presser foot comprising a shank adapted to mount on the presser-foot bar; a support member pivotally mounted from said shank; said support member extending along the line of scam formation and having a front portion and a rear portion; an elastic grommet retained in each of said front and rear portions; a pair of horizontally disposed studs retained within said grommets; a first presser shoe mounted on said studs; a second presser shoe depending from said first presser shoe and resiliently urged downwardly; a third presser shoe mounted on said studs adjacent the first presser shoe for upward movement independently of movement of the first presser shoe; resilient means between said shank and the third presser shoe to yieldingly oppose upward movement of the third presser shoe; means connecting the third presser shoe and the first presser shoe to transfer the pressure of said resilient means from said shank through the third presser shoe to the first presser shoe; and a fourth presser shoe depending from said shank, said fourth presser shoe being pivotally mounted and resiliently depressed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,852,482 4/1932 Seavers et a1 112235 1,930,628 10/ 1933 Smallbone 112-2-'40 2,288,404 6/1942 Kahre -1122'35 12,481,175 9/1949 Tamburro 112-2 35 2,611,333- 9/ 1952 Ritter 112-2135 2,627,240 2/ 1953 Johnson et a1 112-235 2,887,969 5/ 1959 Voigt 112/2J35 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SEWING MACHINE COMPENSATING PRESSER FOOT WHICH IS RESPONSIVE TO VARIATIONS IN THICKNESS OR TO INEQUALITIES IN THE WORK, SAID FOOT HAVING A SHANK, AND AT LEAST ONE PRESSER SHOE, AND MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY SUPPORTING SAID SHOE FROM SAID SHANK; SAID PIVOTAL SUPPORT MEANS INCLUDING A RESILIENT MATERIAL WHICH IS BOTH COMPRESSIBLE AND DISTORTABLE TO PERMIT SAID SHOE TO MOVE IN AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS INCLUDING ROCKING TRANSVERSELY PARALLEL TO THE 